It can be easy to forget that we’re not task-completing robots. We are in fact all human beings with human brains, living human lives. Which means mistakes are normal and to be expected. 

There’s no one-size fits all…

When it comes to productivity there are no right or wrong, one-size fits all answers. 

The most important thing is to approach your productivity with a learners mindset and be willing to make mistakes. You need to learn… 

and try… 

and tweak… 

and try again until you have a system that works for you. 

And when you don’t get something done like you planned, learn from what went wrong, reschedule it and move on. 

Sometimes it all goes to $hit…

There are of course days where we don’t just fall behind a little bit, we fall behind a lot. Entire days might not work out how we’d planned and before we know it our whole week is off. Stress and overwhelm start to kick in.

This is where self care is really important. The solution to the problem that is kind, respectful and loving is not to work nights and weekends until you’re caught up. I’ve tried it –  believe me it just makes the problem worse. 

Why? Because we as humans need rest and downtime away from our work. 

Working more is not the answer…

Pushing through is like working when distracted. You might get the task done but it’s likely to take you twice as long and honestly, your results are going to be crap. 

You’re not going to produce your best work, you’ll be more prone to making mistakes and your creativity will be in the toilet.

So it’s not a case of “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. It’s more like – “All work and no play makes Jack a tired, cranky and inefficient boy” 

Try a calm and caring approach…

The answer to the problem of falling behind in your schedule – that is kind, respectful and loving – is to re-evaluate, re-prioritise and re-schedule.

Look at both your calendar and to-do list for the next few weeks and ask yourself…

“In light of my current situation”, what are my priorities? What do I want to – Delete, Delegate,  Defer and Do? 

Then go ahead and make those changes.

You may need to do this exercise a few times if you find yourself still with more tasks than available time in your schedule. 

As tempting as it may be, I encourage you not to increase your available time by making your days longer. 

Make space by doing less, not more.

This might mean having to say no, renegotiating timelines, cancelling plans and potentially letting people down, which might feel extremely hard and uncomfortable for those of us who are people pleasers. 

But believe me – you are the most important person in your life and if you don’t take care of yourself first, your health and business will suffer.

I’m not saying it’s easy…

Sometimes I need to have a mini toddler-type tantrum about the unfairness of the world before I’m ready to sit down and logically work through the above steps. 

But it’s worth it to make the time to do. Your health and future self will thank you for it.

Need some help re-prioritising or sorting through the stress and overwhelm to become clear on what you need to do? Book a discovery call to see how I can help!